The Open Championship will be played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club (par 70, 7,223 yards, fescue/bentgrass greens) in Southport, England. This is the final major of the season and the 11th time Royal Birkdale has hosted the Open Championship. This course last hosted this major in 2017, when Jordan Spieth (-12) won by three strokes. For this week, there will be 152 golfers competing and a top-70 and ties cut following the first two rounds.
Per usual with majors, DraftKings is hosting a $2.5 Millionaire contest that pays out $1 million to first place and it only costs $25 to enter! You will need to find some low-owned plays that perform well to contend in this GPP and below, I have featured some of my favorite contrarian DFS options to consider for the $2.5 Millionaire.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA $2.5M Fantasy Golf Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
Cameron Young ($9,000)
Young has cooled off after a hot start to the season, which naturally should depress his ownership. After carding six top-10 finishes and winning twice in his first 11 starts of the season, Young has finished outside the top-40 at three tournaments in a row. That being said, the 29-year-old is still the No.4 ranked player in the world and Young appeared to find something in his game his last time out.
In his final round at the Travelers Championship three weeks ago, Young posted a 7-under 63 at TPC River Highlands. He recorded one bogey and eight birdies, including five on the back nine. This 63 is Young’s lowest score since May and hopefully helped him regain his confidence. Young contending at the Open Championship following this round is definitely a possibility and he is a sensational GPP play at this $9,000 salary, which is the cheapest he has been on DraftKings since his PLAYERS Championship win in March.
Young ranks 10th in total strokes gained this season and he has flashed big upside at the Open Championship. Young has made 3-of-4 cuts at this major with a T8 at Royal Liverpool in 2023 and a runner-up at St. Andrews in 2022, which was his Open Championship debut.
Brooks Koepka ($7,600)
Koepka is going to get slept on this week. After withdrawing from the RBC Canadian Open with a hand injury, he missed the cut at the U.S. Open and at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open. In that latter start, however, Koepka showed some signs of life. The Florida State product shot a 4-under 66 in the first round and he gained strokes on approach at the Renaissance Club despite missing the cut.
These are positive takeaways that suggest Koepka’s game might not be that far off and returning to Royal Birkdale could reignite him. Koepka finished T4th at this course in 2017, which is the best Open Championship finish of his career. While no victories, Koepka has been strong at this major, making 8-of-11 cuts and finishing inside the top-10 four times.
This season, Koepka has produced six top-20 finishes in 14 starts and the five-time major champion ranks eighth in SG APP, which is a great sign for Royal Birkdale. The greens at this venue are tiny for a links course and approach play is of the utmost importance. When Spieth won by three strokes here in 2017, he ranked T3rd in GIR for the major.
Johnny Keefer ($6,000)
As an Open Championship debutant, Keefer is naturally going to be low owned. While having prior experience at this major certainly helps, we have seen players thrive in their debuts, with Chris Gotterup finishing T3rd last season and Young finishing runner-up in 2022 being a few examples.
Keefer likely won’t contend, but he is playing very well right now and is poised for a strong Open Championship debut. The 25-year-old has made eight of his last 10 cuts and during this time, he has made two major cuts and carded two top-10 finishes.
Keefer finished T39th at the U.S. Open last month and in his Genesis Scottish Open debut this past week, Keefer had his best performance of the season, finishing T3rd. The Baylor graduate gained strokes across the board at the Renaissance Club and he shot a 6-under 64 in the third round. Seeing Keefer excel in his first attempt at this Scotland based links course bodes well for his chances at Royal Birkdale and he is a terrific, cheap target at only $6,000.
Francesco Molinari ($5,600)
Nobody is going to play Molinari and he is worth a dart throw at this low price tag. Molinari has quietly playing well over the last year. The Italian professional has made 10 of his last 13 cuts between the PGA TOUR and the DP World TOUR. Molinari has finished inside the top-20 four times, most recently with a T17 at the Genesis Scottish Open this past week.
Molinari shot under par in all four of his rounds at the Renaissance Club and he ranked fourth in SG APP for the event. This was an impressive feat for the 43-year-old and this was a reminder of his expertise for links golf.
Molinari won the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie by two strokes, which is one of his six top-20 finishes at this major. Molinari has missed 7-of-17 cuts at the Open Championship, including at Royal Birkdale in 2017, but he made the cut at Royal Portrush last season and the experienced links player has the potential to pay off this cheap salary with a made cut this week.
